As Passed by the House 1
122nd General Assembly 4
Regular Session Sub. H. B. No. 558 5
1997-1998 6
REPRESENTATIVES WISE-CATES-WESTON-MAIER-COUGHLIN-GARCIA- 8
METELSKY-MALLORY-THOMAS-O'BRIEN-NETZLEY-JAMES-GRENDELL- 9
HOUSEHOLDER-COLONNA-JACOBSON-PRINGLE-HEALY-BOYD-LUCAS-SULZER- 10
HARRIS-HODGES-WACHTMANN-PATTON-HARTLEY-LOGAN-WILLIAMS- 11
MOTTLEY-KRUPINSKI-KASPUTIS-DAMSCHRODER-STAPLETON-CAREY- 12
REID-MYERS-TERWILLEGER-PADGETT-SALERNO-VERICH-SUTTON- 13
TAVARES-MOTTL-VESPER-PERZ-FORD-SAWYER-YOUNG-OPFER-BEATTY- 14
JONES-METZGER-JOHNSON-BENDER-KREBS-WOMER BENJAMIN-ALLEN- 15
CLANCY-BATEMAN-CALLENDER-ROMAN-BUCHY-PRENTISS-WILSON- 16
JERSE-MILLER-BRITTON-OLMAN-SCHULER 17
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A B I L L
To amend sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of the Revised 21
Code to provide workers' compensation coverage 23
for off-duty peace officers, firefighters, and 24
emergency medical technicians who are injured or 26
killed while responding to an emergency situation 28
and to require payment for those claims from the 29
Workers' Compensation Surplus Fund rather than 31
the State Insurance Fund. 32
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO: 33
Section 1. That sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of the 35
Revised Code be amended to read as follows: 37
Sec. 4123.01. As used in this chapter: 46
(A)(1) "Employee" means: 48
(a) Every person in the service of the state, or of any 50
county, municipal corporation, township, or school district 51
therein, including regular members of lawfully constituted police 52
and fire departments of municipal corporations and townships, 53
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whether paid or volunteer, and wherever serving within the state 54
or on temporary assignment outside thereof, and executive 55
officers of boards of education, under any appointment or 56
contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including 57
any elected official of the state, or of any county, municipal 58
corporation, or township, or members of boards of education; 59
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM 62
"REGULAR MEMBERS OF LAWFULLY CONSTITUTED POLICE AND FIRE
DEPARTMENTS" INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING PERSONS WHEN THE PERSON IS 64
REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO AN INHERENTLY DANGEROUS SITUATION THAT
DEMANDS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ON THE PART OF THE PERSON, 66
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PERSON IS WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE 67
JURISDICTION OF THE PERSON'S REGULAR EMPLOYER WHEN RESPONDING: 68
(i) OFF-DUTY PEACE OFFICERS. AS USED IN DIVISION 71
(A)(1)(a)(i) OF THIS SECTION, "PEACE OFFICER" MEANS A MEMBER OF 72
THE ORGANIZED POLICE DEPARTMENT OF ANY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, 73
INCLUDING A MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZED POLICE DEPARTMENT OF A 74
MUNICIPAL CORPORATION IN AN ADJOINING STATE SERVING IN OHIO UNDER 75
A CONTRACT PURSUANT TO SECTION 737.04 OF THE REVISED CODE, MEMBER 77
OF A POLICE FORCE EMPLOYED BY A METROPOLITAN HOUSING AUTHORITY 78
UNDER DIVISION (D) OF SECTION 3735.31 OF THE REVISED CODE, MEMBER 81
OF A POLICE FORCE EMPLOYED BY A REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY UNDER
DIVISION (Y) OF SECTION 306.05 OF THE REVISED CODE, STATE 84
UNIVERSITY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER APPOINTED UNDER SECTION
3345.04 OF THE REVISED CODE, OHIO VETERANS' HOME POLICE OFFICER 86
APPOINTED UNDER SECTION 5907.02 OF THE REVISED CODE, POLICE 88
CONSTABLE OF ANY TOWNSHIP, POLICE OFFICER OF A TOWNSHIP OR JOINT 89
TOWNSHIP POLICE DISTRICT, STATE HIGHWAY PATROL TROOPER, AND 90
MEMBER OF A QUALIFIED NONPROFIT CORPORATION POLICE DEPARTMENT 91
ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SECTION 1702.80 OF THE REVISED CODE.
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION WITH RESPECT 95
TO OFF-DUTY PEACE OFFICERS, "JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF 96
THE MUNICIPAL CORPORATION, TOWNSHIP, METROPOLITAN HOUSING
AUTHORITY HOUSING PROJECT, REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY FACILITIES 97
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OR AREAS OF A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION THAT HAVE BEEN AGREED TO BY A 98
REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY AND A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION LOCATED 99
WITHIN ITS TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION, COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY, OR OHIO 100
VETERANS' HOME IN WHICH THE PEACE OFFICER IS APPOINTED, EMPLOYED, 101
OR ELECTED.
(ii) OFF-DUTY FIREFIGHTERS, WHETHER PAID OR VOLUNTEER, OF 103
A LAWFULLY CONSTITUTED FIRE DEPARTMENT. AS USED IN DIVISION 105
(A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION WITH RESPECT TO OFF-DUTY FIREFIGHTERS, 106
"JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION, 107
JOINT AMBULANCE DISTRICT, FIRE DISTRICT, OR JOINT FIRE DISTRICT 108
IN WHICH THE FIREFIGHTER IS APPOINTED OR EMPLOYED.
(iii) OFF-DUTY FIRST RESPONDERS, EMERGENCY MEDICAL 110
TECHNICIANS-BASIC, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS-INTERMEDIATE, OR 111
EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS-PARAMEDIC, WHETHER PAID OR 112
VOLUNTEER, OF AN AMBULANCE SERVICE ORGANIZATION OR EMERGENCY 113
MEDICAL SERVICE ORGANIZATION PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 4765. OF THE 115
REVISED CODE. AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(1)(a) OF THIS SECTION WITH 118
RESPECT TO OFF-DUTY FIRST RESPONDERS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL
TECHNICIANS, "JURISDICTION" MEANS THE LIMITS OF THE POLITICAL 119
SUBDIVISION OR JOINT AMBULANCE DISTRICT IN WHICH THE FIRST 121
RESPONDER OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN IS EMPLOYED AS A FIRST 122
RESPONDER OR EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN.
(b) Every person in the service of any person, firm, or 124
private corporation, including any public service corporation, 125
that (i) employs one or more persons regularly in the same 126
business or in or about the same establishment under any contract 127
of hire, express or implied, oral or written, including aliens 128
and minors, household workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars 129
or more in cash in any calendar quarter from a single household 130
and casual workers who earn one hundred sixty dollars or more in 131
cash in any calendar quarter from a single employer, or (ii) is 132
bound by any such contract of hire or by any other written 133
contract, to pay into the state insurance fund the premiums 134
provided by this chapter. 135
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(c) Every person who performs labor or provides services 138
pursuant to a construction contract, as defined in section 139
4123.79 of the Revised Code, if at least ten of the following
criteria apply:
(i) The person is required to comply with instructions 142
from the other contracting party regarding the manner or method 143
of performing services;
(ii) The person is required by the other contracting party 146
to have particular training;
(iii) The person's services are integrated into the 149
regular functioning of the other contracting party; 150
(iv) The person is required to perform the work 152
personally;
(v) The person is hired, supervised, or paid by the other 154
contracting party;
(vi) A continuing relationship exists between the person 157
and the other contracting party that contemplates continuing or 158
recurring work even if the work is not full time; 159
(vii) The person's hours of work are established by the 162
other contracting party;
(viii) The person is required to devote full time to the 165
business of the other contracting party;
(ix) The person is required to perform the work on the 168
premises of the other contracting party;
(x) The person is required to follow the order of work set 171
by the other contracting party;
(xi) The person is required to make oral or written 174
reports of progress to the other contracting party; 175
(xii) The person is paid for services on a regular basis 178
such as hourly, weekly, or monthly;
(xiii) The person's expenses are paid for by the other 180
contracting party;
(xiv) The person's tools and materials are furnished by 183
the other contracting party;
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(xv) The person is provided with the facilities used to 185
perform services;
(xvi) The person does not realize a profit or suffer a 188
loss as a result of the services provided;
(xvii) The person is not performing services for a number 191
of employers at the same time;
(xviii) The person does not make the same services 193
available to the general public; 194
(xix) The other contracting party has a right to discharge 197
the person;
(xx) The person has the right to end the relationship with 200
the other contracting party without incurring liability pursuant 201
to an employment contract or agreement. 202
Every person in the service of any independent contractor 204
or subcontractor who has failed to pay into the state insurance 205
fund the amount of premium determined and fixed by the 206
administrator of workers' compensation for the person's 207
employment or occupation or if a self-insuring employer has 208
failed to pay compensation and benefits directly to the 209
employer's injured and to the dependents of the employer's killed 210
employees as required by section 4123.35 of the Revised Code, 212
shall be considered as the employee of the person who has entered 213
into a contract, whether written or verbal, with such independent 214
contractor unless such employees or their legal representatives 215
or beneficiaries elect, after injury or death, to regard such 216
independent contractor as the employer.
(2) "Employee" does not mean: 218
(a) A duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister or 220
assistant or associate minister of a church in the exercise of 221
ministry; or 222
(b) Any officer of a family farm corporation. 224
Any employer may elect to include as an "employee" within 226
this chapter, any person excluded from the definition of 227
"employee" pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section. If an 228
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employer is a partnership, sole proprietorship, or family farm 229
corporation, such employer may elect to include as an "employee" 230
within this chapter, any member of such partnership, the owner of 231
the sole proprietorship, or the officers of the family farm 232
corporation. In the event of an election, the employer shall 233
serve upon the bureau of workers' compensation written notice 234
naming the persons to be covered, include such employee's 235
remuneration for premium purposes in all future payroll reports, 236
and no person excluded from the definition of "employee" pursuant 237
to division (A)(2) of this section, proprietor, or partner shall 238
be deemed an employee within this division until the employer has 239
served such notice. 240
For informational purposes only, the bureau shall prescribe 242
such language as it considers appropriate, on such of its forms 243
as it considers appropriate, to advise employers of their right 244
to elect to include as an "employee" within this chapter a sole 245
proprietor, any member of a partnership, the officers of a family 246
farm corporation, or a person excluded from the definition of 247
"employee" under division (A)(2)(a) of this section, that they 248
should check any health and disability insurance policy, or other 249
form of health and disability plan or contract, presently 250
covering them, or the purchase of which they may be considering, 251
to determine whether such policy, plan, or contract excludes 252
benefits for illness or injury that they might have elected to 253
have covered by workers' compensation. 254
(B) "Employer" means: 256
(1) The state, including state hospitals, each county, 258
municipal corporation, township, school district, and hospital 259
owned by a political subdivision or subdivisions other than the 260
state; 261
(2) Every person, firm, and private corporation, including 263
any public service corporation, that (a) has in service one or 264
more employees regularly in the same business or in or about the 265
same establishment under any contract of hire, express or 266
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implied, oral or written, or (b) is bound by any such contract of 267
hire or by any other written contract, to pay into the insurance 268
fund the premiums provided by this chapter. 269
All such employers are subject to this chapter. Any member 271
of a firm or association, who regularly performs manual labor in 272
or about a mine, factory, or other establishment, including a 273
household establishment, shall be considered an employee in 274
determining whether such person, firm, or private corporation, or 275
public service corporation, has in its service, one or more 276
employees and the employer shall report the income derived from 277
such labor to the bureau as part of the payroll of such employer, 278
and such member shall thereupon be entitled to all the benefits 279
of an employee. 280
(C) "Injury" includes any injury, whether caused by 282
external accidental means or accidental in character and result, 283
received in the course of, and arising out of, the injured 284
employee's employment. "Injury" does not include: 285
(1) Psychiatric conditions except where the conditions 287
have arisen from an injury or occupational disease; 288
(2) Injury or disability caused primarily by the natural 291
deterioration of tissue, an organ, or part of the body; 292
(3) Injury or disability incurred in voluntary 294
participation in an employer-sponsored recreation or fitness 295
activity if the employee signs a waiver of the employee's right 296
to compensation or benefits under this chapter prior to engaging 297
in the recreation or fitness activity. 298
(D) "Child" includes a posthumous child and a child 300
legally adopted prior to the injury. 301
(E) "Family farm corporation" means a corporation founded 303
for the purpose of farming agricultural land in which the 304
majority of the voting stock is held by and the majority of the 305
stockholders are persons or the spouse of persons related to each 306
other within the fourth degree of kinship, according to the rules 307
of the civil law, and at least one of the related persons is 308
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residing on or actively operating the farm, and none of whose 309
stockholders are a corporation. A family farm corporation does 310
not cease to qualify under this division where, by reason of any 311
devise, bequest, or the operation of the laws of descent or 312
distribution, the ownership of shares of voting stock is 313
transferred to another person, as long as that person is within 314
the degree of kinship stipulated in this division. 315
(F) "Occupational disease" means a disease contracted in 317
the course of employment, which by its causes and the 318
characteristics of its manifestation or the condition of the 319
employment results in a hazard which distinguishes the employment 320
in character from employment generally, and the employment
creates a risk of contracting the disease in greater degree and 321
in a different manner from the public in general. 322
(G) "Self-insuring employer" means any of the following 324
categories of employers if granted the privilege of paying 325
compensation and benefits directly under section 4123.35 of the 326
Revised Code: 327
(1) Any employer mentioned in division (B)(2) of this 329
section; 330
(2) A board of county hospital trustees; 332
(3) A publicly owned utility; 334
(4) A board of county commissioners for the sole purpose 336
of constructing a sports facility as defined in section 307.696 337
of the Revised Code, provided that the electors of the county in 338
which the sports facility is to be built have approved
construction of a sports facility by ballot election no later 339
than November 6, 1997. 340
Sec. 4123.46. The (A)(1) EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN DIVISION 350
(A)(2) OF THIS SECTION, THE bureau of workers' compensation shall
disburse the state insurance fund to employees of employers who 351
have paid into the fund the premiums applicable to the classes to 352
which they belong when the employees have been injured in the 353
course of their employment, wherever the injuries have occurred, 354
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and provided the injuries have not been purposely self-inflicted, 355
or to the dependents of the employees in case death has ensued. 356
(2) THE BUREAU SHALL DISBURSE THE SURPLUS FUND CREATED 359
UNDER SECTION 4123.34 OF THE REVISED CODE TO OFF-DUTY PEACE 360
OFFICERS, FIREFIGHTERS, EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS, AND FIRST 361
RESPONDERS WHO ARE INJURED WHILE RESPONDING TO INHERENTLY 363
DANGEROUS SITUATIONS THAT DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE ON THE 364
PART OF THE PERSON, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE PERSON WAS WITHIN 365
THE LIMITS OF THE PERSON'S JURISDICTION WHEN RESPONDING, PROVIDED 366
THE INJURIES HAVE NOT BEEN PURPOSEFULLY SELF-INFLICTED, OR TO THE 367
DEPENDENTS OF THE PERSON IN CASE DEATH HAS ENSUED. 368
AS USED IN DIVISION (A)(2) OF THIS SECTION, "PEACE 370
OFFICER," "FIREFIGHTER," "EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN," "FIRST 371
RESPONDER," AND "JURISDICTION" HAVE THE SAME MEANINGS AS IN 372
SECTION 4123.01 OF THE REVISED CODE.
(B) All self-insuring employers, in compliance with this 374
chapter, shall pay the compensation to injured employees, or to 375
the dependents of employees who have been killed in the course of 376
their employment, unless the injury or death of the employee was 377
purposely self-inflicted, and shall furnish the medical, 378
surgical, nurse, and hospital care and attention or funeral 379
expenses as would have been paid and furnished by virtue of this 380
chapter under a similar state of facts by the bureau out of the 381
state insurance fund if the employer had paid the premium into 382
the fund. 383
If any rule or regulation of a self-insuring employer 385
provides for or authorizes the payment of greater compensation or 386
more complete or extended medical care, nursing, surgical, and 387
hospital attention, or funeral expenses to the injured employees, 388
or to the dependents of the employees as may be killed, the 389
employer shall pay to the employees, or to the dependents of 390
employees killed, the amount of compensation and furnish the 391
medical care, nursing, surgical, and hospital attention or 392
funeral expenses provided by his THE SELF-INSURING EMPLOYER'S 393
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rules and regulations. 394
(C) Payment to injured employees, or to their dependents 396
in case death has ensued, is in lieu of any and all rights of 397
action against the employer of the injured or killed employees. 398
Section 2. That existing sections 4123.01 and 4123.46 of 400
the Revised Code are hereby repealed. 402